SRTM-Viewer is a JavaFX application designed to visualize and analyze topographical data from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) STS-99. Users can graphically select and evaluate SRTM tiles, save them as PNG files, and analyze elevation data. The application supports both SRTM3 (3 arc-second resolution) and SRTM1 (1 arc-second resolution) files.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| SRTM3 & SRTM1 Support | Loads both 3 arc-second (~90m) and 1 arc-second (~30m) .hgt files |
| Worldwide Tile Grid Overlay | Interactive map with full 1°×1° SRTM tile grid clearly displayed and color-coded by availability |
| Heightmap PNG Export | 16-bit grayscale or colored heightmaps (with customizable color ramps) |
| Wavefront OBJ Export | Blender-ready high-quality triangulated mesh |
| POV-Ray Scene Export | Generates ready-to-render .pov + .png files with height_field terrain, camera, lighting, and atmospheric effects |
- A stable internet connection is required to run the application.
- Java Runtime Environment (JRE) or Java Development Kit (JDK) version 24 is required.
- JavaFX SDK is necessary for GUI functionality (JavaFX).
SRTM files (.hgt) contain 16-bit signed integer values representing elevation data, with no header or trailer. File names follow the format N50E010.hgt.
North X=0,Y=1200 ********************* X=1200,Y=1200
*********************
*********************
*********************
South X=0,Y=0 ********************* X=1200,Y=0
West East
North X=0,Y=3600 ********************* X=3600,Y=3600
*********************
*********************
*********************
South X=0,Y=0 ********************* X=3600,Y=0
West East
- Move the mouse over the map to select an SRTM tile (e.g., for a specific city).
- Displays tile boundaries, file name, northern/southern longitude, and elevation.
- Accounts for Earth's curvature in calculations.
- Calculates the tile's area in square kilometers.
- Visualize
.hgtfiles from a local directory as a grid on OpenStreetMap. - File names appear at a certain zoom level.
- Two tables on the right allow showing or hiding individual tiles or entire regions.
- Grid view uses only file names, not file contents.
- Store files in a single folder without subdirectories (e.g.,
Europe,Asia,North America,Japan).
- Import an SRTM3 or SRTM1 tile for color-coded visualization based on a configurable color table.
- Edit the color table to adjust tile coloring; changes are saved to the configuration file.
- At higher zoom levels, hover to display elevation in meters above sea level.
- Enable the alpha channel for semi-transparency to view underlying map features (e.g., cities or highways).
- Right-click to place a marker; copy/paste longitude and latitude from Google Maps using
CTRL+Vto update coordinates. - Save options:
- Export the tile as a black-and-white elevation profile or colored PNG (with or without a marker).
- Preview is provided before saving; markers outside the tile are ignored.
- 3D visualization via POV export:
- Generates a black-and-white elevation profile and a POV file for the POV-Ray ray tracer.
- Set POV-Ray image size to at least Full HD (1920x1080 pixels).
- 3D visualization via Blender export:
- Generates a clean, high-quality Wavefront
.obj(opens perfectly in Blender without any fixes). - Triangulated mesh
- Ready for immediate rendering, texturing (satellite imagery, procedural materials), animation, or 3D printing.
- Recommended import settings in Blender: just drag & drop or File → Import → Wavefront (.obj) — no rotation or scale fixes needed.
- Generates a clean, high-quality Wavefront
- IDE: Apache NetBeans 27 (NetBeans 27)
- Java SDK: Java 24 (JDK 24)
- GUI Development: Gluon Scene Builder (Scene Builder)
- Framework: JavaFX (JavaFX)